The correct answer, “certitude,” implies a state of mind that is far more convinced of what is believed in than do the other options. To have a mere opinion is to believe something without necessarily having a truly justifiable or knowledgeable reason for it. A suspicion is merely to think that something is possibly the case without being totally certain of the justification of that opinion. A “hunch” is likewise a kind of suspicion. To act “on a hunch” is to act on an intuition without being sure that the “hunch” is completely justifiable. We can have an “impression” of something without having much evidence. (A “first impression” is the first hunch that someone has about the character of another person—though based often on just that first meeting).

"Bench", "couch", and "chair" are all pieces of furniture that you can sit on. You can sit on a ladder, but it is not designed for that purpose, nor is it a piece of furniture.

All of these words describe some sort of ornamentation or jewelry. Do not be tricked into thinking that either decoration or ornament differs from the group. All five are actually somehow related to being a small item of decorative purposes—whether on a person or merely on a shelf. The real difference that sets “trinket” apart from the other words is the fact that a trinket is a small and often cheap ornament. This word alone indicates such inexpensiveness.

Each of the words that are alike in this group pertain to fire in some way. Certainly “heat” and “blaze” are obvious in this regard. An “ember” is a hot coal or piece of wood left in the bottom of a dying fire—the little glowing red chips at the end of the long process of burning. A "cinder" is perhaps the most distantly related to fire, as it is a piece of burned material that still has some burnable matter in it. Still, note that the word is related to fire in a direct way. This is not a secondary meaning of “cinder” but, instead, its primary meaning. The word “log” has many meanings that are not at all related to fire—thankfully so, as many log cabins would be ablaze if logs had to be used in fire!

All of these words pertain to elevated areas of land. Something “alpine” is a type of land formation that is like the Alps—very elevated and mountainous. A sierra is a jagged mountain range. It is related to the word “serrated,” which is often used to describe knives that have jagged blades. (It ultimately comes from the word for “saw.” A sierra is a saw-like mountain range). A “massif” is a group of mountains, generally one that is gathered alone by itself in the middle of an otherwise non-mountainous terrain. In comparison with all of these words, “hillock” merely describes a small hill. Given that all the others describe elevations that are much higher, “hillock” is the word that does not fit with the group.

The related words here are perhaps a bit perplexing, for they include a mixture of contradictory terms. On the one hand, you have “agreement” and “consensus,” while on the other you are presented with “dispute” and “contention.” A consensus is a form of agreement, and contention is strife and disagreement; however, note that all of these words do share the notion of indicating things pertaining to agreement or lack thereof. In contrast to this, a legislature is at best the place where such agreement and disagreement occur. It does not indicate such agreement or disagreement itself.

"Canada" does not belong with the other words because it is a country, while of the other words are continents. There are seven continents: Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, South America and North America. "Canada" is a country in North America. "Australia" is both a country and a continent.

Three of these answers refer to an actual illness. A headache is just a symptom, and not an actual illness.

Although all of these words are a type of vegetable, "beets" are red. All of the other vegetables listed are green.

"Shade," "shutters," "curtains," and "blinds" are all different types of coverings for windows. "Window" does not fit with this group of words because it is the object that is covered, not a covering.